Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-07-02

appropriate emblem Of An CT wagon and an
m Boer, marking, no doubt, the head
quarters Of the uiumvirate. Once the cart
ahead Of him was stopped by . sentry and
som conversation ensued. Then it went on
again; and so did John. unmolested. 1t was
weary work, that journey through Heidel-
berg, and full of terrors for John, who every
moment expected to be stopped and dragged
off ignominiously to Jail. The horses, too,
were dead beat, and made frantic attempts
to turn and stop at every house. But, some
how, they got through the little place and
then were stopped once more. Again the
first cart got on ahead, but this time John
was not so lucky.
"The pass said one cart" said a voice.
"Yah, yah, one cart" answered another.
John again put on his clerical air and told
his artless tale; but neither Of the men could
understand English, 50 they went to a wagon
that was standing about fifty yards away to
fetch somebody who could.
"Now, inkoos." whispered the Zulu Mouti,
"drive on! drive ont"
John took the hint and dashed the horses
with his long whip; while Mouti, bending
forward over the ~splashboard, thrashed the
wheelers with a sjambock. Of went the
team in q spasmodic gallop and had covered
q hundred yards Of ground before the two
sentries had realized what had happened.
Then they began to run after the cart shout
Ing, but were soon lost in the darkness.
John and Mouti did not spare the whip,
but pressed on up the stony hills ON the Pre-
toria side of Heidelberg without a halt.
BY IL O'Clock they reached o hotel, or way
side house, known as Ferguson's, and situated
about twenty miles from Pretoria. It was
empty, except fora couple Of cats and a stray
dog. Tho inhabitants had evidently fed
from the Beers. Here John stabbed and fed
his horses, giving them all that remained of
the forage; and then. once more, started on
for the last stage. The road was dreadful;
and he knew that the country must be full of
hostile Beers, but fortunately he met none.
1t took III four hours to get over tho twenty
miles Of ground: but it was not until he got
to the "Poort," or neck running down into
Pretoria, that he saw q vestige of q Boer.
Then he made out two mounted men riding
along the top of a precipitous stone strewn
ridge, some 600 yards or SO from him. At
first he thought that they were going to de-
scend it, but presently they changed their
minds and got Off their horses.
While he was still wondering what this
might portend, he saw a puff of white smoke
f1oat up from where the men were, and then
another. Then came tho sharp. unmistakable
ping" OF a bullet passing, as far as no could
Judge, within three feet of his head, followed
by q second ping" and o cloud of dust be-
meath the belly Of tho first horse. The two
Beers were firing at him.
He did not wait for any moro target prac-
tice, but, thrashing the horses to a canter,
got the cart round a projecting bank before
they could load and fire again. After that
he saw no more Of them.
At last he reached the mouth Of the Poort
and saw tho prettiest of the South African
towns, with its red and white houses, its tall
clumps OF trees and pink lines of blooming
rose hedges lying ON the plain before him, all
set in the green veldt, and made beautiful by
the golden light Of the afternoon, and he
thanked God for the sight. He knew that he
was safe now, and let his tired horses walk
slowly down the hillside and across tho bit OF
plain beyond. To his left were tho Jail and
barrack sheds, and gathered about them were
hundreds Of wagons and tents, toward which
he drove. Evidently tho town was deserted
and its inhabitants In danger. When he 70,
within half a mile or SO a picket Of mounted
men came riding toward him, followed by q
miscellaneous crowd on horseback and O,
foot.
"Who goes there!' shouted a voice in honest
English.
"a friend who is uncommonly glad to sex
you" he answered, with that feeble ~jocosity
we arc all apt to indulge in when a grea,
weight is at length lifted from our nerves.